“Welcome, Ms. Hwang. Can I get you something to drink?” Principal Miller’s soft voice sounds kind as Jessica takes her seat in the principal’s office.
“I wouldn’t mind a glass of water,” Jessica admits, slouching back in her chair.
Miller gestures to her secretary, who bustles out of the room toward the main part of the front office. Miller then turns back to Jessica, her face slightly harder than before.
“Jessica, we’re here to discuss something very serious,” she begins sternly.
“What’s that?” Jessica asks, nonplussed.
“Well, last week during the attendance assembly you may have noticed a certain . . . disruption.”
“Do you mean when Mrs. Scott fell flat on her face as she walked up to the stage?”
Miller sighed, then conceded, “Yes, that’s what I’m referring to.”
“That was so–” Jessica starts to giggle, then immediately sobers up. “Tragic. I felt so bad for her.”
Miller raises a skeptical eyebrow and begins to retort, but her secretary interrupts by returning with Jessica’s water.
“Thank you so much!” Jessica says to the secretary, who nods and slips back out the office door.
“Ms. Hwang,” Miller moves on, “A brief investigation concluded that someone had placed a tripwire exactly where Mrs. Scott ascended the stairs to the stage. Do you know anything about that?”
Jessica pauses for a moment, apparently thinking hard. Then, she shakes her head. “Nope. Although, I could probably figure out who did it.”
“Oh, could you?” Miller asks, once again skeptical. Her conferences with Mrs. Scott and several other third grade teachers point to Jessica’s guilt in the matter, especially considering the girl’s pranking history. Miller shudders, remembering the Kindergarten bathroom incident of ‘17.
“Oh yeah, I’ve got a list of suspects already in mind.”
“Do you now?”
“Number one, Sally Mayfield. She’s the Kindergartener who sat right next to the spot where Mrs. Scott tripped.” Jessica explains. “Our moms are friends, and let’s just say that girl has an attitude problem, if you know what I mean.” Ignoring the confusion on Miller’s face, Jessica continues.
“Number two is Mr. Thomas. He was up on stage at the time, meaning he had to arrive at the auditorium earlier than everyone else. Believe it or not, the second grade-third grade teacher rivalry is boiling over right now, so he would have the perfect motive and opportunity.”
“Okay,” Miller replies slowly, making a mental note to look into the so-called rivalry.
“Number three would be Alexander Hayden. He has a terrible track record when it comes to Mrs. Scott, and just the other day he confessed to the class that she’s his least favorite teacher.”
“This is all true, Ms. Hwang. However, it doesn’t explain why Mrs. Scott named you as the class’s designated prankster.” Miller replies, analyzing the suspect’s reaction to her statement.
Jessica doesn’t miss a beat. “I’ve been known to joke around, yes. However, I didn’t have the opportunity or means to plant the tripwire. I came into the auditorium with everybody else. Just check the security cameras.”
Miller shifts uncomfortably. “Um, well, we tried to do that, but . . .”
“What’s wrong with the cameras?”
“Nothing’s wrong per say,” Miller continues. “Nevertheless, the camera shows an inconsistent narrative.”
“What does that mean?” Jessica asks, taking up her own skeptical tone.
Miller sighs and relents. “In the footage we have, the tripwire isn’t there one second and it’s there the next. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Jessica’s face shrivels up in confusion. “That’s very strange.” She sits for a minute, pondering the new layer to the mystery. “Is it possible that a group of kindergarteners worked together to lift the tripwire right as Mrs. Scott walked up there?”
“That seems highly unlikely.” Miller deadpans, unamused by Jessica’s speculations.
“Well if it wasn’t them it was probably a malfunctioning camera. Or,” Jessica adds suddenly, “Someone in the main office edited the security footage to cover up their crime!”
Miller sighs again. “You know what, I think we’ve got it covered. If you say you didn’t do it, I believe you. Thank you for coming in, Ms. Hwang.”
“No problem,” Jessica replies with a charming smile. She stands and exits the office without a backwards glance.
Principal Miller watches the young girl leave, then closes her office door. The video footage seems so bewildering that she almost believes someone did edit it. Could one of Jessica’s wild speculations actually be close to the truth?
Out in the hallway, Jessica heads toward the front doors. Since her parents both work, she usually walks home with her older brother James. However, the school day ended half an hour ago, so James is nowhere in sight. In fact, Jessica can’t see anyone lingering about. She gets off the school grounds, then pulls out her phone to call her brother.
“Hey, Jess. What’s up?”
“James, can you go out to the porch?”
“Sure. Are you gonna race home?” he asks.
“Yeah, there’s no one around.” Jessica explains. “Get your timer ready.”
“Okay, it’s ready. Three, two, one, go!”
With her backpack bouncing wildly behind her, Jessica takes off. Her legs propel her faster than a motor boat, and soon enough she arrives on the front step. Panting slightly, Jessica drops her bag and looks up at her older brother.
“What was my time?”
“Half a mile in 2.3 seconds. Way to go, Jess, that’s a personal best!”
Jessica grins. “Thanks, dude. Hey, did you ever perfect that fireball you’ve been practicing?” she asks as they make their way inside.
“Yeah, I did. Although I burned a hand towel in the process, so Mom’s gonna be pissed.” The two siblings laugh for a minute, then James suddenly stops.
“I almost forgot! Did you get away with it?” he asks.
Jessica smirks up at him with mischief alight in her eyes. “Don’t be stupid, James. Of course I did.”